TechCrunch (With Funding In Tow, Uniiverse Launches A Platform For Collaborative Living) explains:

Just as most Americans are starting to get comfortable with this whole "social revolution," the tech industry has already exhausted every inch of "Social" (and social networking) to the degree that most are now tired of hearing about social. Case-in-point: A startup launching today, called Uniiverse, begins its pitch with this simple message, "Uniiverse is not a social network."...

...That's part of the reason Uniiverse is resistant to being lumped in with social networks, as the Canadian startup is building an online platform that focuses on bringing value to our offline lives. Uniiverse is brushing aside status updates and virtual friends, tagging itself as a "platform for collaborative living." While that may sound equivocal, Uniiverse's mission is to become a service that allows anyone to share any kind of real-life activity or service -- for free. It's a move aimed at the "sharing economy," a better, utopian future where we share and share alike. (But not only the social media kind of sharing.)

...Uniiverse wants to get people out of their eat/sleep/work grinds, out of their virtual worlds, virtual games, and out into that harsh, harsh sunlight.

At launch, the "local" offerings are heavy on language lessons, activity groups (yoga, birding, bridge, tennis partners), and rentals (camera, snowboard).

Like most West Coast startups, it thinks Boston and Cambridge are local to me here in Providence. Unlike most, it also thinks Montreal (275 miles away) is nearby. That will probably change as the startup spreads beyond the initially seeded hubs.

Craigslist certainly needs a trust layer, most of us know that Facebook is just using us for our personal data, and 24/7 online produces an oddly unmemorable life. It's a good sign that tech is facilitating a re-entry to the real world beyond "checking in" at restaurants and bars.

Here's the link: https://www.uniiverse.com/.

Patrick Connolly

Maine lobster and crab nachos.

NYC Chef Patrick Connolly -- brother of Patriots offensive lineman Dan Connolly -- has done New England proud with his Maine lobster and crab nachos. We've scoured the nation's food section Web sites for tasty recipes like this that won't keep the cook away from the TV during the Super Bowl. Some are healthy, some (such as chocolate-covered footballs of Oreo crumbs and cream cheese) are definitely not.

You probably know you can substitute fat-free thick Greek yogurt for sour cream, but Super Bowl Sunday may tempt you to go all out. The killer app here might be the Oreo Football Truffles recipe from Bakerella that The Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat includes in its East Coast meets Midwest for Super Bowl spread recipes along with Spicy Chicken Lasagna Roll-Ups, Pepperoni "Pizza-licious" Dip, Hoagie Dip, Picante Pork Mini Taco Recipe and Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries.

From the Boston Herald's Bring your A-game to the game-day feast come Davio's Bolognese sauce, Nebo Restaurant's Wes Welker Wings, Sweet Cheeks Sticky Habanero Wings.

The L.A. Times does turkey wings three ways -- teriyaki bourbon, spicy barbecue and honey.

From The Birmingham (Ala.) News, Make it a 'Souper Bowl' party this year: Corn Chowder, Turkey Chili and Tortilla chips.

While the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer gets hot with It's a Buffalo sauce stampede (Mini Buffalo Chicken Balls, Blue Cheese Dressing and Buffalo Chicken Soup), The Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier takes it a step further with a Buffalo Milkshake, which began as a joke on the TV show 30 Rock.

The South Bend (Ind.) Tribune, hometown of Notre Dame's "Fighting Irish," offers three types of chili -- red (aka Red Menace), green (aka Mean Green Pig) and veggie (aka Vicious Veggielicious), pictured at right.

Charleston's other Super Bowl party fare includes Tyler Florence's Salsa Fresca, Cheesy Jalapeno Popper Popcorn, Chicken Wing Sampler variations (Tex-Mex, Asian, Sweet 'n' Spicy), Mexican Casserole With Ramen Noodles and Onion Dip From Scratch.

The Chicago Sun-Times has some fresh ideas with Salsa-Lime-Bean Dip and
Sweet Potato Hummus, and tries to lighten up Buffalo Popcorn Chicken. I'm not so sure about Please Super Bowl crowd with taco bar, which stuffs guacamole, bean dip and veggies into small bags of Fritos.

Detroits News' Go big for the big game includes 12-Layer Nachos, at left, Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash, Bourbon Jumbo Shrimp, Super Bowl Stromboli.

Crazy Feta from the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal World
involves roasted garlic, charred jalapenos, bricks of feta and lemon, and they say it's good with pita chips.

The Sioux City (Iowa) Journal's NFL Legends' Favorite Super Bowl Party Eats collects Brett Favre's Family Jambalaya (26 ingredients), Steve Young's Bean Dip and Roger Staubach's Family Chili. The bean dip is more like a bean salad -- canned beans and corn in olive oil and vinegar, topped with tomatoes and avocado, no smashing.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal's New England, New York set for showdown ... of clam chowders serves up red and white, and ups the ante with Chicken Wings In Peanut Sauce to boot.

The Tulsa (Okla.) World's Eli Manning's Lace Cookies and other Super Bowl recipes from famous people offers Jay Leno's Uncle Louie's Chicken Wings Marinara (wings in canned plum tomatoes), Katie Couric's Lemon Squares in addition to Eli's mother's simple oatmeal cookies.

The Philadelphia Inquirer describes Good Dog White Turkey Chili as a lighter, whiter chili ("It's built around tomatillos, jalapeños, white beans, cilantro, lime juice - and a splash of tequila"). It comes with the admission, "the Super Bowl has never been a big event in our family (perhaps because the Eagles are so rarely involved.")

If you still haven't found the chicken wings of your dreams, the Washington Post's Super Bowl recipes: A chicken wing smorgasbord has seven more variations.

* Many more 2012 Super Bowl recipes from the Providence Journal.

* 2011 Super Bowl party recipes from newspaper food sections. Not all the links may still be live.

Go Pats!

We'll be scooping up recipes from the nation's newspaper food sections over the next few days, but The New York Daily News came out early with a recipe smackdown: "Big game food rivalry: NYC, Boston chefs face off to give you Super Bowl party options

Joe Dobias of JoeDoe in the East Village takes on Boston star chef Ken Oringer (a Bryant College grad and former pastry chef at Al Forno) and it's no contest: New England Oyster Stew, New England Clams Casino - Thai Style, New England Oysters with Cranberry Verjus, Carne Asada Tacos with Salsa Verde, Boston (Iced) Tea Party, The 'Big Blue' (and White) Cookie, Chinatown Takeout vs. The Bronx Cheer Pizzas (dough only) and NY Deli Platter (chicken livers and spiced matzohs).

It's hardly a fair fight -- Dobias's current focus is a new JoeDough sandwich shop that's offering a six-foot sub for the game ($350 to $375, depending on the ingredients).

But all these recipes work better if the chef is not a football fan -- only the cookie and the chicken livers allow the cook to watch the game rather than fuss in the kitchen.

For the 1974 Super Bowl in Houston, the Minnesota Vikings had a flock of sparrows nesting in their training facility's shower. Miami owner Joe Robbie flew Dolphins' wives to Texas, but refused to fly the girlfriends of single players. He "seems something of a moralist," wrote Musick. "The single Dolphins are unhappy. The ones that aren't are giggling over the situation."

The party atmosphere of Super Bowl week has had its casualties, of course. Among them, Atlanta Falcons safety Eugene Robinson, 1999: "On the day before Super Bowl XXXIII, he was awarded the Bart Starr Award from the Christian group Athletes in Action for his "high moral character". However, that very same night he was arrested for offering an undercover female police officer posing as a prostitute $40 for oral sex." -- Wikipedia

Stanley Wilson, 1989: Hard fall for man who had it all, Cincinnati Enquirer:

It was just before 8 the night before Cincinnati was to play the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIII, when the Bengals fullback walked down a hall in the team's hotel and made a U-turn back to his personal hell.

"I forgot my playbook," Wilson told several teammates. "I'll meet you guys downstairs." ...

...Stanley Wilson used cocaine that night. He snorted it. He smoked it. He couldn't stop. Some 20 minutes after the meeting was to begin, running backs coach Jim Anderson found Wilson in the bathroom of his room at the Holiday Inn in Plantation, Fla., a few miles north of Pro Player Stadium. The player was sweating and shivering. White powder flecked his nose and upper lip. The devil was back, for good.

"Oh, Stanley," Anderson said to his fullback. "Why?"

The Bengals lost. Wilson was banned from the NFL for life and, a decade later, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for stealing $130,000 in property from a Beverly Hills home to support his habit.

Oakland Raiders center Barrett Robbins would vanish the day before the 2003 Super Bowl in San Diego, returning that night so incoherent he was removed from the roster. He would tell his wife on the way to rehab (where he was diagnosed as bipolar) he had thought the Raiders had already won the game and he went to Tijuana to party. -- Wikipedia

On a lighter note, in 1990 the Newport News, Va. Daily Press dug up some goofy history (Who Will Do Wildest Thing In Hype Week?):

* George Allen, Washington, SB VII - The Redskins coach banned wives from accompanying the players because "I want them to concentrate on football." The ban was lifted the Tuesday before the game when the players made 236 long distance calls from their hotel rooms.

* Randy Gradishar, Denver, SB XII - The Broncos' linebacker appointed himself "Bitching Coach" and did his best to keep his teammates angry during the week. He placed cockroaches in the rooms of players who hated bugs, and had hotel management turn off the hot water to the players' rooms the morning of the game.

But the late start of Sunday's Super Bowl -- 6:30 p.m. -- demands substantial food as well as dips, pretzels and cheese. Below you'll find recipes that won't keep the cook in the kitchen during the game, dishes the fans loved every time we served them.

Photo / Sheila Lennon

Spinach & Cheese Squares

SPINACH & CHEESE SQUARES
These squares are not quivery like a quiche, since there's no milk or cream in them. Eggs and cheese make it rich and filling, and the cheese makes its own delicious browned crust.

You might add scallions or leeks, substitute (lightly steamed) broccoli for the spinach, or use 1/2 pound of cheddar and 1/2 pound of other cheeses (leftovers from your cheese plate). Double the spinach if you want it to be more like a spinach pie. Feel free to improvise -- the cheese will hold it all together.

1 lb fresh baby spinach
1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms or 4 oz. fresh mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 tablespoons melted butter
6 eggs, beaten
16 ounces cottage cheese or ricotta
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound sharp Cheddar cheese (or half Cheddar and half other cheeses), coarsely grated
1/4 cup sherry wine
Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Drain spinach well; the drier the better.

Bring about 2 cups of water and sherry to a boil in a saucepan and add the dried mushrooms and sundried tomatoes. Blanch for 2-3 minutes, then let sit for at least 10 minutes to absorb the liquid. Drain.

In a heavy soup pot large enough to fit all the spinach, sauté onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons of the melted butter till translucent.

Add spinach, stirring it down till it wilts, then drain. Add mushrooms and sundried tomatoes, eggs, cottage and cheddar cheeses, flour and the remaining butter and mix. Season with pepper.

Pour into prepared dish and bake for 1 hour. Serves 8 to 10.

Deseret News

CLASSIC BEEF CHILI

1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions, minced
1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
6 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through a garlic press (about 2 tablespoons)
2 pounds 85 percent lean ground beef
2 15-ounce cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 28-ounce can tomato puree
Water as needed

Combine chili powder, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, oregano, cayenne pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt in a small bowl and set aside. Heat the oil is a large pot over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions and bell pepper and cook until softened, 8-10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the spice mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in half of the beef, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3-5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining beef. Stir in the beans, diced tomatoes with their juice, and tomato puree and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce to a gentle simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour.

Uncover and continue to simmer gently until the beef if tender and the sauce is dark, rich and slightly thickened, about 45 minutes longer. If the chili begins to stick to the bottom of the pot or looks too thick, stir in water as needed. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving. Serves 6 to 8.
--From Chili: A Super Bowl classic at Deseret News last year.

CROCKPOT COQ AU VIN
Flavorful and filling chicken stew. You can make it the day before and reheat it. Double it for a crowd.

1/2 - 3/4 cup flour
4 chicken drumsticks (or thighs)
2 double boneless chicken breasts
4 slices bacon
8-12 baby carrots, quartered, or 1 regular carrot, quartered lengthwise and coarsely chopped
2 oz. dried porcini mushrooms OR 8 oz. fresh mushrooms
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 small onion, chopped
8-12 oz. chicken stock (use less for thicker stock)
1 cup dry red wine (Burgundy is traditional, but any full-bodied dry wine will be fine.)
1/8 cup brandy (optional)
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme or two large fresh sprigs
1 tsp dried parsley or two large fresh sprigs
1 15-oz jar small boiled onions, drained (or a dozen fresh whole cippolini onions, peeled)

Cooked (brown) rice or mashed potatoes.

Cook the bacon in a large frying pan till crisp and drain on paper towels. Set aside. Drain all but 2 tbsp fat from pan. Add the carrots, onion and garlic to the pan and cook about 3 to 5 minutes, till they soften. Remove with a slotted spoon and put into the crockpot.

Toss the chicken in a bag with the flour until coated.

Add the chicken to the frying pan and brown quickly on all sides; don't cook it through, just seal the outsides. (You may need to do this in two batches; add a tbsp or two of oil or butter if needed.) Set chicken aside.

Pour the wine into the pan and cook for 3 minutes, scraping the brown bits from the pan.

Mix the cocoa with the chicken stock, stir it in. Add to crock pot with wine, brandy, dried mushrooms, bay leaf, thyme and parsley. (If the herbs are fresh, bruise the leaves to release their essence.) Add the chicken, putting the drumsticks on the bottom, and cippolini onions if you're using them. Sprinkle salt and pepper and crumbled bacon over all.

Cover crockpot and cook 6 hours on low. Add canned boiled onions in the last half-hour.

Serve with (brown) rice or mashed potatoes.

Serves 4-6 with seconds.

CARAMELIZED CHICKEN WINGS
1 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
12 large chicken wings, tips removed and wings cut in half at joint OR thighs or drumsticks
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, or to taste (optional)

In an electric skillet or a large skillet, quickly brown the chicken and remove from the pan. Drain the fat.

Reduce the heat to medium, and mix together in the skillet the water, sugar, soy sauce, peanut butter, honey, wine vinegar, and garlic until smooth and the sugar has dissolved.

Place the chicken into the sauce, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Uncover and simmer until the wings are tender and the sauce has thickened, about 30 more minutes, spooning sauce over wings occasionally. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

DICK DRAGO'S GUACAMOLE
The former Red Sox pitcher is a friend and a good cook. He brings this to our gamedays when he's in town. It's ridiculously easy. Here's the recipe he sent:

3 avocados
2 heaping tablespoons of mayo
3/4 jar of Pace Picante Sauce (Medium)
Garlic Powder to taste (I use quite a bit)

Mix it all up by hand or in a food processor. Serve with scoop-shaped tortilla chips.

ASPARAGUS CHEESE DIP
I'm not a big fan of pale veggie dips, but I couldn't stop eating this one. It's far better with thin asparagus tips or broccoli florets than with tortilla chips.

4 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. goat cheese
1 lb fresh asparagus spears, steamed until tender and cut into 1" pieces
3 tablespoons dill, chopped
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped
4 dashes of hot sauce
½ teaspoon garlic powder

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until thoroughly combined. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 8

-- From Paula Deen.

Bill Ray/TIME & LIFE Pictures

"Buzzard and an old lady on a California freeway, 1965."

Hell's Angels on Harleys:

From LIFE Magazine,

In early 1965, LIFE photographer Bill Ray and writer Joe Bride spent several weeks with a gang that, to this day, serves as a living, brawling embodiment of our schizoid relationship with the rebel: the Hells Angels. Here, in a gallery of never-published photographs, Ray and Bride recall their days and nights with Buzzard, Hambone, Big D, and other Angels (and their "old ladies") at a time when the roar of Harleys and the sight of long-haired bikers was still new, alien, and for the average, law-abiding citizen, simply terrifying.

The series, shot three years before the movie Easy Rider, was never published: "According to Bride, "George Hunt [LIFE's managing editor] said he didn't want to run a piece on 'those smelly bastards.' " "

LIFE has now published some of them online, and Bill Ray has a book with more. You can see the entire book -- even the text readable if you click the bottom right full-screen icon -- at Blurb: Hells Angels of San Berdoo '65. But the LIFE version has more extensive text, much of it from Bride's notes, a story unfolding in captions. For example,

Bill Ray/TIME & LIFE Pictures

Meeting the Lads
"I told Big Daddy Roth I'd like to meet the Angels, talk to them about doing a story," Bride remembers. "It would be a chance for them to get some recognition, and explain why they did what they did. Not long after the story on Big Daddy ran, in late 1964, Roth called and said, 'They'll meet you -- with conditions.'" Bride met two Angels at Big Daddy's store. They blindfolded him, put him in a car, and drove into the mountains. At a bar "with what looked like 100 bikes parked outside," no longer blindfolded, Bride met a stocky, long-haired Angel who asked if he shot pool. They played some nine-ball, and Bride beat the guy two out of three games. Bride then negotiated, there in the bar, a relationship where the Hells Angels agreed to allow him and Bill Ray to shadow them. Bride sat back, had a few beers, and then they drove him back to L.A. Not long after that, Ray and Bride began reporting the story. Above: "Little Jim" drinks beer from a waste basket at the Angels' clubhouse in San Bernardino.

Love, life, work and Harley:

Tony DePaul

Tony DePaul's wife Pam on his Harley.

Love, death and Harley:

Mike Carano/Cringe Humor
via Associated Press

The late comic Mike DeStefano.

via The Moth

Fran DeStefano

...So the next thing you know we're on I-95, because women, it's never enough for them. We're on I-95, and she unhooks the pole, and she's holding the morphine bag over her head with her gown that's flying up in the air so you could see her entire naked, bony body with the morphine bag whipping in the wind, and we're passing by these guys in their Lamborghinis, and I'm looking at them like, What the hell kind of life are you living? Look at me, I'm on top of the world here.... More

Fran died the next morning.

Mike told this 11 1/2-minute story of Franny's first and last ride on his Harley in 2007 the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. From The Moth's A Tribute to Mike DeStefano,

This is an after-hours jam session with Bob Dylan and Etta James and her band. The Bob Dylan Examiner reported that "In the early hours of the 10th, Bob Dylan joined Etta James and Shuggie Otis on stage at the Providence Marriott Hotel. You can almost hear Dylan smile as he kept repeating the same suggestive verse of "I'm A King Bee" (The one about "making honey")."

The great Etta James died Jan. 20 at 73.

The Battle of Waterloo, which put an end to Napoleon's rule in France, is expected to be recreated on a daily basis and visitors may even be able to take part in the reenactments.

Relive the hero's ultimate failure daily in an amusement park, such fun!

Yves Jégo

"Here you are in Egypt amid a sea of sand which passes the Bedouins. You are with Bonaparte at the foot of the pyramids. Do not be afraid of the dark, down in the Great Pyramid with its labyrinths, go in search of the secret room that leads to treasures of the Pharaohs.

"While the Battle of Trafalgar raged on the surface, to escape the chaos and dive in search of shipwrecks. You will be able to admire the thousands of living species that inhabit our oceans.

"Caribbean Josephine welcome you with their colorful birds in the middle of incredible vegetation. After visiting a plantation maintained by many slaves, you will live the adventures of the pirates of the Caribbean and down the slopes of a smoldering volcano.

"Slide on the slopes of the St. Bernard Pass, pass the Beresina in the middle of frozen bodies of soldiers and horses. You are at the gates of Moscow: dress warmly, put on your skis or take a sled to slide down the middle of veterans, the snowy battlefield. ..."

Jégo intends to reveal more details about his plans next month.

This is what happens when you make the Internet mad.

Web Strike

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wikipedia Blackout: An #altwiki Band-Aid

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Statement by (former) Sen. Chris Dodd, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA)

Much, much more.

Judge Ronald R. Lagueux's 40-page decision that ordered the removal of the school prayer banner in Cranston West high school is extremely readable (and large print). He describes the banner, cites precedent and quotes Roger Williams. But it is in his descriptions of the video of the community's response that the issue becomes clear: stepping over the constitutional line is a choice between an inclusive civil society of which all are members and a fractious land of Sunnis and Shiites.

There's a long and bloody history of passionate believers fighting over whose Sacred Book is the truth. The Constitution aimed to establish a society based on what we have in common, lifting America above unwinnable wars between faith-based factions. Its framers deliberately chose to make it blind to beliefs, governing what what we have in common as citizens and leaving us each to wrangle with existential issues in our private lives.

The principle Judge Lageux upholds protects us all: "The Government must not appear to take sides on issues of religious beliefs."

The alternative is a hostile, finger-pointing, unholy mess.

The Cranston School Committee and its subcommittee held four open meetings to consider the fate of the Mural. At those meetings a significantly lopsided majority of the speakers spoke passionately, and in religious terms, in favor of retaining the Prayer Mural. Various speakers read from the bible, spoke about their personal religious convictions, threatened Plaintiff with damnation on Judgment Day and suggested that she will go to hell.

The atmosphere was such that the Superintendent of Schools felt compelled to discuss his own religious beliefs at length when he made his recommendation to the Committee that they vote to retain the Prayer Mural. Similarly, five of the seven School Committee members expressed avowals of their own religious beliefs at the meeting, including two of those who voted against retaining the Mural. This is precisely the sort of "civic divisiveness," McCreary County, 545 U.S. at 876, 125 S.Ct. at 2742, that the Supreme Court's Establishment Clause cases repeatedly warn against.

...When focused on the Prayer Mural, the activities and agenda of the Cranston School Committee became excessively entangled with religion, exposing the Committee to a situation where a loud and passionate majority encouraged it to vote to override the constitutional rights of a minority.

Read the decision.

The Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame Board of Directors are, front row from left, Don "D.C." Culp, Rich Lupo, Josh Cournoyer, James Toomey, Consuelo Sherba, Mary Ann Rossoni. Back row from left, Jonathan Flynn, Russell Gusetti, David Goldstein, Bruce "Rudy Cheeks" McCrae, Alan "Big Al" Pavlow, Robert Billington, Mederick "Rick" Bellaire, Keith Fayan. Not pictured are John Chan, Marc O. Perry, John Worsley. The new nonprofit organization has planned an Induction ceremony and concert for Feb. 26 to be held at The Met.

A group of Rhode Island musicians led by Rick Bellaire had been working to get a wide-ranging R.I. Popular Music Archive Hall of Fame off the ground for a couple of years. They have done the work of collecting memorabilia, and researching Rhode Island musicians and have inducted some notables into a virtual version of the hall, but needed to expand to make an impact.

Last year, unaware of their efforts, the Blackstone Valley Tourism Council formed a committee to discuss establishing a R. I. Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. As members contacted musicians, they were pointed Rick's way and last June the two groups agreed to collaborate.

The resulting gang, pictured above, form the board of directors of the new The Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame, which is launching the museum in the hallways of the Hope Artiste Village at 1005 Main St. in Pawtucket. Their new website, which will eventually include the historical archive of the Pop Music hall is rhodeislandmusichalloffame.com

They plan a first annual induction and concert Feb. 26 at The Met. Those being honored range from Roomful of Blues and Beaver Brown (made nationally famous by the Eddie and the Cruisers movie) to blind composer Oliver Shaw, at left, born in Newport in 1779, whose sheet music was a "hit," shipped to buyers by boat and wagon. Soprano Eileen Farrell as well as three other acts previously inducted into the R.I. Popular Music Archive Hall of Fame -- Ken Lyon, Anders & Poncia, and Gerry Granahan -- are also to be honored.

Roomful and Beaver Brown are to play that night. More about this as the date draws near.

Coaches Bill Belichick, left, and Josh McDaniels.

Defensive back Sterling Moore.

Safety Patrick Chung, left, and team owner Bob Kraft.

Dr. Michael White National Anthem Sugar Bowl 2012 - YouTube

Jazz clarinetist Michael White adds a funky reality layer to the emoting of cabaret singer and former Mad Men actor Bryan Batt, whose voice was fortunately up to the challenge of those high notes before the Sugar Bowl last week in New Orleans. Focus your ears on the clarinet and let the voice range around it.

The crowd is quiet, applauding the best parts.

White is a music professor at La.'s Xavier University. Here are clips from his Adventures in New Orleans Jazz, Part 1 CD. (Mp3s are at Amazon).

Bonus: Traditional jazz clarinetist Dr. Michael White a true Renaissance Man:

For any jazz history enthusiast, White's Katrina story is perhaps harder to hear than others. The flood took from White more than 4,000 books on jazz; thousands of recordings; original and historic sheet music; more than 50 vintage clarinets, including one played by Omer Simeon, a contemporary of Jelly Roll Morton; footage of every filmed performance by Louis Armstrong; an original mouthpiece belonging to clarinetist Sidney Bechet; and interviews with more than three dozen musicians born between 1890 and 1910. He speaks of them, and dozens of pieces of memorabilia, one by one, as if taking inventory in the only place they still exist -- his memory.

His bio at All About Jazz.

In Icons photo

$99.99 Steve Jobs doll.

Maybe it's the piercing gaze or the saintlike poses of this 12-inch doll, but this Steve Jobs action figure ($99.99 plus shipping) from DID Corp. has definitely creeped out more than one blogger as "too realistic."

Legal pushback from Apple against the Chinese company is expected in some quarters before the doll actually ships next month, but there's no evidence that has happened yet.

Little girls everywhere will recognize the accessories list but this one is more extensive than most Barbies':

-One realistic head sculpt & Two pairs of glasses
-One highly articulated body & Three pairs of hands
-One black turtleneck & One pair of blue jeans
-One black leather belt & One chair (wood + metal)
-One pair of black socks & sneaker
-Two apples (One with a bite.)
-One piece of "ONE MORE THING" hard backdrop

Sounds like hours of fun. Or the centerpiece of a movement toward home shrines to the late Mr. Jobs.

Colonial Williamsburg photo

"Rich Cake" for a Twelfth-Night Celebration, from a 1747 recipe.

The original book is quite valuable but it's a free read at Google books.

Google images

Three Kings Cakes

There's some confusion, apparently, about whether Jan. 5 or 6 is actually Twelfth Night. From Twelfth Night (holiday) - Wikipedia, the paragraph after the definition I copied at the top of this page:

It is defined by the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary as "the evening of the fifth of January, preceding Twelfth Day, the eve of the Epiphany, formerly the last day of the Christmas festivities and observed as a time of merrymaking". However, there is currently some confusion as to which night is Twelfth Night: some count the night of Epiphany itself (sixth of January) to be Twelfth Night. One source of this confusion is said to be the Medieval custom of starting each new day at sunset, so that Twelfth Night precedes Twelfth Day. In some cases the 25 December is the first day of Christmas, so therefore 5 January is the 12th day.